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Delta Heart Save
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Date: January 26, 1994 Story On January 26, 1994, Frank Hartnett escorted his 73-year-old mother, Sally, on a flight from Connecticut to her winter home in Florida. As they walked down the concourse, she constantly had to stop to catch her breath, which Frank had never seen her do before. When the flight began boarding, she looked fine. Frank loved her, so he was willing to give her whatever she wanted or needed. Frank had no feeling at all that something might go wrong. On the flight, Sally asked for a drink of water, and when the flight attendants gave it to her, she dropped it, said she had just taken her Nitroglycerin, and needed oxygen. Frank told Jeanette McClaridy, one of the flight attendants, that Sally had taken Nitroglycerin, which made it clear that she had heart problems. One year after having a quadruple bypass surgery, it seemed impossible that Sally could have another heart attack. Being 30,000 feet in the air, Frank was thinking, "What the heck are we going to do now?". Senior flight attendant Judy Wilde took charge of the situation. When she first heard that a passenger was ill, she didn't think too much of it, since it occurred more than one may imagine, but Sally was unresponsive to Judy, which told her she was in trouble. Judy immediately checked for a pulse, which she did not find. She knew that if no medical professional was on the flight, that she and the other flight attendants would have to do the best they could with the limited equipment they had. Jeanette made an announcement asking for a medical professional, and upon hearing it, Dr. Tom Kandell, an internist, came to check on the situation. Sally was pale, clammy, not breathing, and had no pulse, so she was clinically dead. The captain was told he had to land the plane as soon as possible, but the nearest airport was 30 minutes away. Dr. Kandell began chest compressions on Sally while Judy breathed into her mouth. It frightened Frank to see the CPR, as he was very afraid she would die. His father had died two years before, and it was too soon for him to go through it again. Dr. Kandell told Frank he was afraid he may break Sally's bones because she was old and very delicate, but Frank said that was better than the alternative. About ten minutes after the CPR began, Dr. Kandell thought he felt a pulse and asked a flight attendant for a stethoscope, but unfortunately it was short lived and CPR had to be resumed. Dr. Kandell knew that Sally's chances of surviving were not as good after they lost her pulse, and he whispered into Judy's ear that he didn't think Sally would make it. The crew called and asked if they could make it to Atlanta, and Judy said no, knowing they were doing all they could and they needed to land as quickly as possible. It had been nearly twenty minutes since Sally's cardiac arrest, and they got a second pulse, and Dr. Kandell listened carefully and there was a heartbeat but she was not breathing on her own, and it was frustrating to see that she was still unresponsive, and even more frustrating was the fact that Frank was her son and witnessing her possible demise. For Frank, the plane seemed to get smaller and smaller, knowing how helpless they were. They kept working on Sally for about another five to ten minutes, and as they were coming into Philadelphia, she suddenly took a deep breath. Judy thought she could make it if they could just get her to the paramedics as quickly as possible. Once they landed, the paramedics quickly came on board, and as they stuck in the IV, Sally grunted and Dr. Kandell told her she felt the pain because she was alive. Four months later, Sally could feel her strength slowly returning day by day, and it was determined that she had an extreme allergic reaction to Nitroglycerin, so when she put it in her mouth it dropped her blood pressure so much that it caused her heart to stop beating. It was the first time she had ever taken it, and she threw it away and never took another. Dr. Kandell said that it would be foolish to say not to take a drug because of the side effects, but people needed to be cautious. When Sally met Dr. Kandell, saying she was thankful every day for him, knowing life is very precious and never forgetting that he came to help her when she couldn't take care of herself. She said he was her guardian angel. Frank said there was no way to describe how grateful he could be to someone that saved her life. He was ecstatic that she was okay, but he wouldn't take her on any more trips. Sally was also thankful that Delta had a training program for the flight attendants to teach them CPR. Judy had known how to do first aid before she became one. Dr. Kandell wanted Sally to know that being a factor of bringing her back was very gratifying for him as a person. Frank was happy she was still there to give and receive love from her family. Category:1994 Category:Pennsylvania Category:Cardiac Arrest Category:Heart Attacks Category:Anaphylactic Shock